Equipped Items Question

[Palmer]

Originally Posted by whassumattuh

Can I have an item equipped if it doesn't actively give me a bonus? Would it just be considered to be in my backpack?

Your question is worded wrong.

You CAN have equipped items that give no bonus.
Sandals of Protection are footgear that give no bonus (they have an effect though). So the answer is "yes", but that's not really your question.

Here's the point of clarification you're looking for.

"Usable by Human only" does NOT mean "Dwarves can use this, but get no bonus". It means they CAN'T USE IT. At all.
If you get race-changed, it does not make you "lose the bonus" from your dwarf armor, it makes you stop USING the armor. It immediately goes in the "backpack" (which is not actually a game term)

"Equip" is not a term in the rules. "Equip" is just a slang term for "Use".
Can't use = can't equip.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Palmer

"Usable by Human only" does NOT mean "Dwarves can use this, but get no bonus". It means they CAN'T USE IT. At all.
If you get race-changed, it does not make you "lose the bonus" from your dwarf armor, it makes you stop USING the armor. It immediately goes in the "backpack" (which is not actually a game term)

Unless you're in combat at the time, because you can't change the "in use" status of Items during combat, not even in this case.

EXCEPTION: If you have multiple Big items and lose the ability that lets you have them, you must IMMEDIATELY ditch the extras, because that's what the Big item rule says.

[aeronaut]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

Unless you're in combat at the time, because you can't change the "in use" status of Items during combat, not even in this case.

Andrew, so does this mean that since the dwarf only armor (in this example) was equipped at the beginning of the fight, the character, now stripped of the dwarf race, still uses the armor for that fight and gets the bonus from it? Or does the armor remain equipped during the fight but confer no bonus since the character is no longer a dwarf?

I would assume that after the fight, the character must unequip the armor, and would have the option of equipping the human-only weapon.

And this issue would also apply to a character who voluntarily discarded a race during a combat. For example, fighting a +n vs. elves monster, ditching the elf race, but still having the bow with ribbons (elf only) equipped, etc.

Regards,
aeronaut

[snarky]

I'm pretty sure the moment they cease being a dwarf, they cease being able to use the item and lose their bonus from it. Otherwise, what's the point of tossing the curse at them during combat?

Similarly, if the monster had a penalty to fighting dwarves, that penalty would disappear (making the monster stronger) when the Change Race curse was played.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by aeronaut

Or does the armor remain equipped during the fight but confer no bonus since the character is no longer a dwarf?

This is correct.

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by aeronaut

Or does the armor remain equipped during the fight but confer no bonus since the character is no longer a dwarf?

Yup, and there's a good reason for this already described in the FAQ in Important Note #2.

I would assume that after the fight, the character must unequip the armor, and would have the option of equipping the human-only weapon.

Absolutely.

And this issue would also apply to a character who voluntarily discarded a race during a combat. For example, fighting a +n vs. elves monster, ditching the elf race, but still having the bow with ribbons (elf only) equipped, etc.

Yup. And, funny you should mention the Elf and the Bow With Ribbons. Seriously, read the FAQ, Important Note #2. . . ;-)

Important note about Important Note #2: The word "immediately" is unnecessary and implies a timeliness to the action of replacing your Race/Class/Loyalty/Accent that really isn't there, other than doing it before trying to get the bonuses and fighting the Monster(s).

[aeronaut]

OK. I'll check it. Funny thing, I'm connected to work via VPN. The connection is fine with this forum, but is blocking my access to the FAQ. I'll look at it later. Perhaps that's why my searches aren't finding stuff in the FAQ.

And lest anyone think I'm slacking off, right now I'm working after hours. I'll slack off another time, ....

Thanks for the guidance, MM.

Regards,
aeronaut

[Nerftw]

That's because it's probably blocking by domain name, and "www.sjgames.com" is probably blocked while "forums.sjgames.com" is not.